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Cyclists and pedestrians go past a makeshift memorial on a path in Longueuil on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, to honour Jenique Dalcourt, who died after being found beaten on the path Oct. 21.Phil Carpenter/ Montreal Gazette

In a highly unusual step, the police expanded the area where they hoped to find evidence even though the park and cemetery, which are adjacent to the bike path, have been accessible to the public for days. Evidence found under such circumstances can be heavily scrutinized as potentially contaminated by a defence lawyer if charges are eventually brought against a suspect.

On Oct. 22, several police officers could be seen combing through the grass and looking over the tombstones on the north side of the cemetery. They returned to the cemetery on Wednesday and broadened their search to include a larger part of Parc Paul Pratt. Dalcourt was attacked on a section of the bike path near Chambly Rd., close to where it intersects with Lévis St.

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“We went back to the crime scene at 10 a.m. and we enlarged our perimeter. Our investigation is still ongoing but unfortunately we can’t say whether we found new elements of proof so as to not harm our investigation,” said Constable Mélanie Mercille, a Longueuil police spokesperson. She said the search conducted Wednesday lasted for six hours. “We enlarged the area to about 500 metres surrounding the bike path.”

Mercille said investigators are still awaiting results from a laboratory that was asked to analyze evidence gathered earlier on in the investigation. Four days after Dalcourt died, the Longueuil police arrested a 26-year-old man and brought him to court, on Oct. 27, with the expectation he would be charged in connection with the slaying. But after several hours, a prosecutor announced to a Quebec Court judge that the man should be released and that no charges would be filed for the time being. The man was released later the same day but the Longueuil police still consider him to be an important witness in their investigation. They also said the results of the analysis will likely determine whether or not the 26-year-old man is charged.

Mercille was unable to provide an estimate on when investigators expect to have the results from the laboratory.

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